Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1887-03-31
NAPOIIs. MD, THURSDAY EVENING, MARCH 81 1887.
DINING WIN A PRTNCE.
How Persian Potentate Entertains HIS
Guests.

of being entertained by a Persian
Prince was when dined with the Ser
rum-u-Dowlet, the son of the Governor
of the province of Kermanshah, who
was the Kings uncle. About 5 in tbs
afternoon ! arrived with friend at the
Princes house. 1t was in the summer
time, and His Highness was sitting with
his brother in n large talar or archway,
n sort of windowless room, the open
front of which looked upon large k4ux
or tank, into and from which clear wa
ter ran continuously. The whole talar
was built in the Arabian or Saracenic
style of the Alhambra; but the decora-
tons were far less chaste and much
more florid. There were life-sized full
length portraits of dancing girls in all
possible and impossible attitudes. Some
were balancing knives and goblets, 9TH
ers were in the various postures of the
Eastern dance, while one was depicted
as standing on her head All these pic
lures were faithful likenesses of court
favorites made by the court painters.
The Persians, unlike other Mohamme-
dams, delight in representations of fe-
male beauty, in which their artists ex-
eel. The recesses in the walls were fill
ed with acknowledgements of very
dubious taste, let in and glazed. There
were old chandeliers of various colors
hanging from the lofty arch; twenty
pairs of carriage lamps were stuck in
staples on the walls, and from each of
these depended tiny cage in which
nightingale was singing, in emulation
of his fellows, at the full pitch of his
voice. In the center of the apartment,
open to the air, was basin five feet in
diameter, of the alabaster-like yellow
veined markle of Yezd and in this bas-
in single large jet of water, the thick
ness of a mans arm, played furiously.
1t was now sunset, and a military
band, some twenty strong and all APP
parently playing different tunes, pro-
duced a tohubohu truly diabolical. Then
heady wine of Hamadan. Trays of
sweetmeats, each containing a dozen
varieties Of beautifully made bonbon.
and comfits, all of snowy whiteness
were placed on the ground at either
side of each of the party. The guests
drank their wine from glasses; the hosts
used bowls of silver of the size and
shape of finger-glass. Spirits in the
form of arrack-the strong, coarse
spirit of the country-were offered to
us and declined. Our hosts drank it
like water
And now entered four lutis or buff
foons. They sang, they danced and
they told short stories, to the intense
amusement Of our hosts Then, amid
the rhythmic beating of drums and tam
bourines, the clash of cymbals and the
sounds of the cornet, flute, harp, viol,
sackbut and all kinds of music, came
four pretty gypsy girls, half-dressed in
the gayest colors and covered with gilt
tering jewelry. They sailed into the
room, each decorated with her profess
sional smile. Truth to say, these girls
were much painted, but in Persia every
lady paints ON great occasions. The
eyebrows and eyelashes had been much
beautified. A tiny Zouave jacket of
bright satin, embroidered with gold and
seed-pearls, was all the clothing worn
above the waist. The skirts reached
to the knee and were much bouffe, A;se
those of our opera-dancers. Two of
the girls wore their jetty tresses in in
Vulnerable plaits; from the end of each
plat hung little bell or a silver coin.
The other two allowed their magnifi-
cent cbeUelures of wavy black hair to
hang in a cascade which fell far below
their waists. As to their eyes, it is
enough to say that they were Persian
eyes. The age of the dancers varied
from Is years to IL.
The dance had no variety. The four
young ladies spun round in a row, the
hands high in air. while the. fingers
were snapped with n sound like the
playing of castanets. Now and then
the dancers would make what children
call a 'schecse." Then, while their feet
remained moiionless, their bodies
would be swaycd and contorted more
and more rapidly as the music quicken
ed. Then the head was bent back till
it almost touched the ground, the fin
.rcrs being snapped in time to the mu-
SIT. while one girl FLASHED pair q
cymbals Can inch in diameter) between
the forcfingcr and thumb of each hand.
Meanwhile the Persians were singing a
Persian love song with 4 wild refrain,
in which all joined. The scene was a
sufficiently gay one. all taking place
under blaze of light from the ch::nde-
iiers and carriage-lamps.
The girls now danced singly and q
variety of posturing was gone through.
They balanced full glasses and lighted
candles; They stood on their heads; they